Darkness Of The Heart
by Magical-Tear
Summary: The world is made up from pure balances, no exceptions. If there is love, there is hate. If there is life, there is death. If there is light, there is darkness. If there is a world, there are dimensions. If there is a winner, there is a loser... ShunxOC
1. Chapter 1: Harbinger Of The Dark

_**A/N: **_Hehe, I finally realized I had to put the author's note above here ^^" I thought there would be a special space for that, but I now discovered that there isn't...So! Finally submited my first story in ! One of my current obsessions is Bakugan (I have 16 Bakugan as toys!) and I became inspired to write this fanfic! It will be following the whole series and I may write a sequel with New Vestroia and Gundalian Invaders (if I ever get to watch it...)

Well, to finish this A/N I wanted to thank cocoacharm15 for inspiring me to write this story and the animecrazypanda for being my BETA reader for this chapter ^^ If you, my dear reader, still find some spelling/grammar errors it would be of much help if you pointed them out to help me improve my english! Thank you so much!

_**Disclaimer: **_Bakugan Battle Brawlers belong to its respective owners. What I own is any OCs which may appear during the story.

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**[o]Chapter 1: Harbinger Of The Dark[o]**

**~*~Natsumi's POV~*~**

I angrily slammed the metal door of my small locker before turning on my heels and stumping towards the front door of my school. My schoolmates turned to send me cautious stares as I passed by them, some even sending death glares to my back. Sadly, I was already used to their actions.

It was all parents' dream for their children to like school and studying, and everyone knew that if you enjoyed those things, your future promised to be rich.

I didn't care.

Long ago, school had lost all its enchantment to me. The same old angered teachers, frustrated with their own life, the same meaningless lessons they tried to carve deep into your brain, the same flavorless food of the cafeteria, and the same neglecting of your classmates. To make things worse, add the fact that your best friends were no longer there.

How was I supposed to happily deal with all that? There was only one thing I loved, one thing I would spend my life on without thinking it twice, the only thing I was good at: Bakugan.

I know this is going to sound weird, but one day cards started dropping from the sky, coming down like rain. At first, nobody knew where they were coming from, but every kid knew that they were not just ordinary game cards. Together with my two best friends, we created this game called Bakugan.

It was just then that the real power of the cards was revealed. Each one held its own battling beast which came to life when you threw it down. Of course, the battles were intense and they soon captivated my heart, just like the heart of thousands of kids all around the globe.

Together with all our international online friends, we soon created a whole community of players, even starting a ranking list. One of my best friends and I became passionate players, reaching the top 20, soon entering the top 10, until we finally won first and second place in the ranking.

No matter how many times I tried to defeat him to get ranked first, he was always a step ahead of me. At first thinking that it was because I was a year younger than him, I decided to improve my mind. I used any time I had to design strategies, study new movements, improve my deducing ability, and learn all the general information of every card and beast I found. Even so, it was never enough to defeat the number one player.

But all good things soon come to an end. Parents started to get worried for their kids, only seeing their decreasing grades and how distant they were growing from their own families. Curfews started to limit the kids' liberty, punishments started to get worse, and some parents even took their children's Bakugan away. Our group was not an exception.

We fought between each other for stupid things and soon our little gang broke apart. One of my friends had to change schools and we never kept in touch. My remaining friend abandoned the game forever, locking himself up in his grandfather's dojo.

_The number one Brawler was no more._

Amazing as it is, no one has managed to surpass his score yet, leaving him as the maximum goal, the never touching dream.

As for me, I locked myself emotionally from everyone else. I felt betrayed by my so-called best friends, abandoned to my own luck. I still brawled everyday, maintaining my rank, but every dream I ever had of being ranked number one had vanished. If I couldn't get a proper brawl with my former friend anymore, I refused to win because of points.

My aunt Deanne and my uncle Tim were worried about my change in attitude. I was still the same at home, and I enjoyed every moment I spent with them, but I guess they've seen the other side of me. They've taken care of me since I was six years old, so I guess they've gotten to know me greatly.

In my perspective, my aunt and uncle always treated me better than my parents, who would have never allowed me to play Bakugan. They never allowed me to do anything, not even to have a pet. My aunt and uncle have always been patient and understanding, so I've never had to worry about my parents being crazy about school or worse, regulating my Bakugan life.

That was a bonus, considering all the problems I was having at school right now. Today, for example, I was bugged the entire day by another classmate who demanded a Bakugan brawl with me.

I had gotten used to this, too. Beating the second ranked Brawler would surely increase your popularity in no time, not to mention all the points you would gain in the game.

The boy was called Takahato, a real annoyance. He had insisted so much that the teacher had scolded the both of us, even though I had not opened my mouth at all. In the end, it was just a warning, but we were threatened with suspension if we kept that up.

"_It's not as if we were the only ones talking about Bakugan anyways,_" I thought bitterly, staring silently at the three black spheres with purple designs I was holding on my right palm as I rested my back on a tree in the park.

The purple linings of one Bakugan circled the symbol of its attribute while forming what looked like a flower, the other Bakugan's designs were straight horizontal lines, and the other one had the design of a wing with the attribute symbol on top.

There are six attributes in total in Bakugan, each one representing an element. There is the Pyrus attribute representing Fire, its main colors are red and orange; Aquos represents Water, its main colors are blue and cyan; the Haos attribute represents Light, its main colors being yellow and white; there is also the Subterra one representing Earth, having brown and orange as its main colors; the Ventus attribute represents Air, showing green and teal as its main colors; and lastly, there was the Darkus attribute which represents Darkness, my attribute, its main colors being black and purple.

All this attributes were organized in a hexagon, allowing Brawlers to make special combinations using their cards.

"_You always need to use your surroundings to your advantage. Always search for factors to secure your victory while taking care of your fighting beast at the same time,_" my friends' voices resounded in my head, being nothing but the echoes of a precious memory.

They had just defeated me again and I had been crying in frustration. They had come up to me and given me advice, effectively brightening up my mood. I still remember their encouraging smiles as they held out their hands to me, both pairs of brown eyes twinkling tenderly…

I frowned and closed my fist around my Bakugan before slipping them into the silver Bakuclip hanging from my brown belt, made so that it could hold up to three Bakugan, the ones you needed for a brawl. I sighed and crossed my arms across my chest, closing my eyes so that I could get lost in my own thoughts.

"I finally found you again!"

"So much for the peace and quiet," I mumbled as I opened my eyes to see the boy who had yelled.

My dark brown eyes fell upon a pale skinned boy standing in front of me, who had a smug smirk on his face. His dark grey eyes seemed to combine well with his wavy blond hair. He was wearing faded black jeans, a white shirt and a bright yellow jacket on top, and I was able to see a white watch-like devise clasped on his right wrist once he raised it: his Haos Baku-Pod.

"You still owe me that Bakugan brawl, Hirakata," Takahato reminded me angrily, addressing me by my last name. He was pointing his finger at me, posing unconsciously.

I watched him intently, trying my best to prevent any emotion from slipping out of my steel mask. I quickly balanced my options, deciding between turning the offer down and heading to my peaceful home or accepting the challenge and shutting him up for good. As expected, the last one sounded better, not to mention it was tempting. It had been a long time since I last brawled, and I had to keep my ranking secured.

"Let's end this quickly," I finally whispered, stepping away from the tree and pulling out a black card from one of the two gray holders hanging from my brown belt at my back. Takahato smirked at my actions and pulled out his own Field Card.

Our Cards had the symbol of the hexagram in gray at the back, and on the front it had the complete hexagon occupying the whole face, showing every attributes' symbol and its respective color.

"Bakugan Field, open!" We commanded at the same time.

Time stopped as my Field Card shined with a purple light and Takahato's with a yellow one. The Attributes' Hexagon appeared by our feet, shining intensely as it spun over itself. Once the light had died down, I found myself standing in the Bakugan Field. The floor was of a very light gray color, and the walls and sky showed different vortexes of different colors, one for each attribute.

"Gate Card set!" We both called out at the same time after having grabbed another black card from our holders.

We both jumped high into the air and threw the cards to the floor at the same time, mine landing right in front of Takahato and his landing in front of me. The cards soon shined with their respective lights before growing bigger, until each card's length was of about six meters. We landed gracefully on our respective sides of the battle field, staring at each other intently.

"Ready or not, here I come," he told me with a prideful smirk on his lips as he showed me a white Bakugan with yellow linings in its ball form. With as much strength as he could, he threw the Bakugan with his left arm over to his Gate Card in front of me.

"Bakugan stand!" He ordered, making the white sphere to open and spread his head and arms forward.

There was an explosion of yellow light as a huge Bakugan, which looked almost exactly as a praying mantis, emerged from it. The beast had a white body with a few parts of different shades of yellow and big green eyes that could even look behind its head. The most intimidating part of this Bakugan was that he had sharp blades set into its feet.

The Haos Mantris roared at me, producing a steely sound that would have irritated any other person. However, the sound of a brawl only managed to make me let an excited smirk pose itself on my lips.

"Not so bad for a rookie. Bakugan brawl!" I yelled as I quickly unclipped my first Bakugan from my Bakuclip and threw it gracefully into the same Gate Card the Mantris was standing on. "Darkus Serpenoid, stand!"

My black and purple sphere, which had the design of a flower, opened up to reveal a triangular head and a long tail with a small sharp end. Purple light surrounded it and what came out was a gigantic black snake with purple hexagons linked in its back. Both beasts roared at each other, my Serpenoid shaking its tail dangerously.

I turned my attention to my Baku-Pod, my purple watch-like device wrapped around my left wrist. When I pressed the button on its right side, its screen slid upwards to reveal small buttons. On the right side, twelve buttons had the numbers 0 to 9 printed as well as the # and * symbols. This was because Baku-Pods could either display the stats during a Bakugan battle or send messages to other Brawlers and check the player rankings.

"Welcome Natsumi. Upon a Haos Mantris. Power level 300G. Darkus Serpenoid. Power level 320G," A woman's voice came out from my Baku-Pod, reading the information out loud.

On my screen, I could see the Gate Card with the Bakugan in their ball forms on top. On the top corners, a picture of my face and another one of Takahato's indicated the player, and underneath them were the cards with our Bakugan's picture and power level. Three orange symbols beside our picture represented the number of battles we might lose.

"Engage!" Takahato suddenly commanded, bringing me back to the fight.

The white Mantris charged against my Serpenoid, who defended itself by coiling around its enemy, immobilizing him. This was not good, the Gate Card needed to be either an Attribute Card or a Character Card that would give his power level a boost, judging by how he was so confident.

"_If that's the case…_" I thought with a smirk.

"Gate Card, open!" Takahato yelled, pointing towards the Card our Bakugan were currently standing on.

The card glowed yellow and the six attributes' symbols appeared over a blue background once the card had turned around. Just as I had thought, he used an Attribute Card. I lowered my gaze to my Baku-Pod again, just in time to see the small white +120 appearing beside Mantris' picture.

"Power level increased to 420G," the same digital voice explained, making me to smirk slightly.

"Is that everything you got? Ability Card, activate! Haos-Darkus Relation!" I yelled as I held the Card up in front of me.

"Serpenoid's power level increased to 420G. Mantris' power level decreased to 320G," the voice of my Baku-Pod announced, a small +100 appearing beside Serpenoid's picture and a -100 appearing beside Mantris'.

"What! That's impossible!" Takahato exclaimed, raising his hands to grab his blond hair in desperation.

"Serpenoid's Haos-Darkus Relation Card increases his power level by 100G if he's against a Haos Bakugan, decreasing that Bakugan's power level by 100G too," I told him with a smug smirk decorating my features.

Serpenoid hissed menacingly as its hold on Mantris grew stronger, finally managing to overpower it. Mantris shined with a yellow light as it reverted back to its ball form, falling by Takahato's feet. My Serpenoid glowed purple before it too returned to its ball form, flying directly into my palm.

"Battle one, terminated. Darkus Serpenoid, victorious," my Baku-Pod sentenced, clearing out its screen for a new battle. One of the three symbols beside Takahato's picture turned off, indicating he had lost the battle.

"Tch, that was only luck!" Takahato glared at me, taking out a new Bakugan from his holder. "That's the only one you'll win!" He yelled as he threw his white Bakugan to the Gate Card I had thrown before.

"Bakugan, stand!" He ordered again, the Bakugan which appeared now incredibly resembling a giant crab. "Haos Terrorclaw!"

"Not so fast! Bakugan, brawl!" I yelled again as I threw my second Bakugan towards my Gate Card, the one with the purple lines as decoration. "Darkus Falconeer, stand!"

After the same purple glow that appeared every time I called a Bakugan to brawl, a black eagle-like Bakugan with some purple feathers appeared soaring through the air.

"New battle begins. Haos Terrorclaw. Power level 300G. Darkus Falconeer, 340G," my Baku-Pod announced our stats again.

"I'm getting tired of you already. Gate Card, open!" I told him coldly, doing my own cool movement when I said my command. "Character Card!"

"Power level increases to 680G," the feminine voice read after my card had multiplied my Bakugan's power level.

"It's all yours Falconeer!" I called, taking a step forwards.

Falconeer dove amazingly fast towards the Terrorclaw, the size of its power level making a dark glow surround its speeding form. Takahato could do nothing but stare in shock as Falconeer collided with the white crab, which glowed yellow and disappeared into its ball form. My Falconeer transformed back too when he was flying upwards again, adding a great effect to its triumph.

"Battle two, terminated. Darkus Falconeer, victorious." The Baku-Pod announced again.

"I-Impossible…" Takahato stuttered, staring unbelievingly at his defeated white sphere.

"I think you're forgetting who you're brawling with," I told him coolly, fighting back every wish of helping him. I knew he didn't deserve this attitude from my part, but I had a reputation to maintain. I think I'll use Serpenoid again for the last battle to make things easier for him…

"I cannot be losing against you! You're nothing compared to me, or anyone else! You learned only because Shun Kazami, the number one ranked, taught you! You have no friends right now, do you! You have no right to be second ranked!" He screamed at me with all his frustration and anger, glaring venomously at me as his fists shook uncontrollably.

My eyes widened in shock for a second before quickly turning into a furious glare. "I'll make you regret everything you just said!" I growled at him, feeling completely hurt by his words.

"_Forget any nice thoughts I had for you!_" I thought angrily, pulling out a new Gate Card with faster speed.

"Gate Card, set! Bakugan, brawl!" I yelled as I threw my last black ball into the field, which had the design of a purple wing. "Twilight Skyress, stand!" I commanded, fire burning in my brown orbs.

There was an explosion of power after my Bakugan opened up, a big column made out of pure shadows seizing the whole battle field. With a high pitched battle scream, a magnificent black phoenix emerged from the shadows, expanding its powerful wings to their full extent. Its numerous long black tails ended up in silver sharp feathers, looking as if they were made of metal. It also looked as if it had a purple unbuttoned vest over its black chest. Its small yellow eyes shined with an unknown fury, totally being shared with me.

"Third round begins. Twilight Skyress. Power level 400G. No other data available," Takahato's Baku-Pod announced, just at the same time as mine did.

"T-That's…" He stuttered, staring in complete shock at my Darkus Twilight Skyress. There was only one other Brawler known to possess one of that species of Bakugan.

Shaking his head furiously, Takahato finally broke off from his daze. "I won't lose to that! Bakugan stand!"

This time, a Haos Saurus appeared the moment the yellow light died down. It was a light yellow humanoid bull with yellow armor, just as tall as a two or maybe three story building.

"Haos Saurus. Power level 350G," my Baku-Pod allowed me to realize something.

The problem was that this Bakugan had a big variety of Ability Cards, and my anger was not letting me think straight to try to guess his next move. Takahato still had two Ability Cards available, and I only had one.

"Ability Card, activate! Saurus Glow!" He yelled as he threw the Ability Card to his Saurus, the small +50 appearing beside the picture of the Saurus in my Baku-Pod.

"Power level increases to 400G,"

"Don't think we'll get equal! Gate Card, open! Energy Merge!" I ordered, opening the card which transferred 100G from the opponent's Bakugan to mine.

"Twilight Skyress' power level increases to 500G. Saurus' power level decreases to 300G,"

"And I'm not over yet! Ability Card, activate! Black Nobility, Violent Darkness!" I yelled, showing Twilight Skyress' special Ability Card. "This Ability Card doubles Twilight's current G-Power," I told my adversary with a smirk, knowing there was nothing else he could do to stop my Bakugan now.

"Power level increases to 1000G," the feminine voice supported my thoughts as a dark energy surrounded Twilight Skyress, the amount of power becoming visible. However, to my surprise, Takahato started chuckling evilly, soon breaking out into a bragging laughter.

"You'll need a better trick than that one! Ability Card, activate! Shade Ability!" He yelled triumphantly, throwing the Ability Card towards the top of the battle field.

"Black Nobility, Violent Darkness Card, deactivated. Twilight Skyress' power level decreases to 500G. Saurus' power level increases to 400G. Twilight Skyress' power level decreases to 400G," my Baku-Pod informed me, making me to stare wide-eyed at its screen.

"Impossible!" I gasped, looking up when Takahato chuckled in amusement again, catching a glimpse of how Twilight's aura vanished into thin air.

"The Shade Ability is an Ability Card that only Haos Saurus can use. It nullifies the opponent's current Ability Cards on the field and brings its G-Power down by 100G. As a bonus, it increases the power level of Saurus by 100G," he told me arrogantly, pleased by the fact that our Bakugan had the same G-Power now.

"Why you…" I growled as I gritted my teeth, narrowing my eyes to send him a death glare as I thought how to get away with this.

It was just in that moment that the whole field started to shake violently, scaring the life out of Takahato. I could feel how huge energy waves passed through the Bakugan Field we were currently in; pressing against my body each time they went through me.

To our shock, the upper part of the field disintegrated until a black hole appeared. A violent wind suddenly came out from the hole, carrying a dark energy within it. Takahato screamed and threw himself down, protecting his head with his arms. I closed my eyes and covered my face with my arms as well, fearing to get blown away by the force of the wind.

Mysteriously, all my Bakugan started to act weird. I could feel my Bakugan in their ball form shaking violently in my Bakuclip, and my Twilight Skyress was suddenly surrounded by the black energy. It let out a painful screech and wriggled against the invading force, flapping its huge wings desperately.

"Twilight Skyress!" I shouted out to it in worry, trying my best to move forward against the current. However, the force of the energy surrounding it had created some kind of a barrier, preventing me from getting any closer.

"I…I can't r-resist any longer!" A deep voice suddenly echoed throughout the whole field, making me narrow my eyes and look around in search of the owner of the voice.

"Who's there!" I tried to shout as loud as I could, but I was sure that my voice got carried away with the wind and all the commotion.

"T-The energy…is too great!" The same voice yelled again, my Twilight Skyress moving its head backwards in order to release another screeching noise at the same time. My eyes widened once realization fell upon me. It had been Twilight Skyress who had spoken!

I trained my gaze over to my Baku-Pod's screen again and couldn't help but gap owlishly once I saw how the G-Power of Twilight Skyress was increasing nonstop, going from 400G to almost 1200G. Once the increase of power was done, both the wind and darkness exploded outwards before disappearing, throwing Takahato and me backwards and rolling us on the cold floor.

Finally going berserk, Twilight Skyress flew directly towards the Haos Saurus with no intentions of holding back, leaving a trail of purple and black flame-like energy behind it. When the collision was made, the whole field illuminated with a bright light, blinding me for a moment.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself sitting on the same park the brawl had started. I looked around in confusion and found Takahato laying face-down on the floor. He groaned and shakily pushed himself up, shaking his head to get rid of his dizziness. Feeling panic and excitement rushing through my veins, I picked up the black sphere lying in front of me and took off running, not daring to look the blond in the eye.

**[o]**

The sound of my gray boots pounding hardly against the hot concrete resounded loudly inside my aching head, my desperate panting leaving me deaf to any other sound that was not made by my own body. I ran as fast as my feet could carry me, not caring in the least of all the angry looks I was receiving from the people whom I pushed aside.

My widened eyes would shift down to the silver holder hanging from my brown belt quite often, checking to see if something abnormal would happen again. I still couldn't believe what had occurred a few moments ago; my mind still trying to convince my hoping heart that it had been just my imagination.

Finally reaching my house, I slammed the door opened and closed, not being very careful when I took off my shoes. Rushing upstairs to my room in socks, I barely caught sight of my aunt cleaning in the living room.

"Natsumi, is that you?" She called over at me the moment she heard the front door. "Don't forget that you have classes this evening!" She called over at me again once she realized I had no intentions to stop, the slamming noise that came from upstairs telling her that I had reached my bedroom.

I leaned against my bedroom door, desperately trying to stop my panting. Taking all my Bakugan off of me, I threw them on my desk and threw myself on my bed, burring my head in my pillow. I stayed that way for a few minutes, trying to calm my heart's beating down, breathing slowly.

Turning my head slowly towards the left, I watched silently the dark spheres resting on top of the wood, admiring their unique and intricate purple designs. I stood up and picked up my Twilight Skyress, lifting it up to my eyes so that I could take a closer look at it. I turned around and walked back to my bed, not taking my eyes off of the ball while I did so.

"Did you really talk? Was it just me?" I whispered to the Darkus Bakugan, nearing it to my ear in hopes of hearing his enchanting voice again.

I sighed sadly once nothing came out from it, fixing my gaze on it as I pondered about this for a minute. The only way I could think of, to prove I was not going nuts, was to check the Bakugan Site. Who knows? Maybe the forum was being attacked with each kid's story.

I stood up and walked over to my desk once again, turning on my dark blue computer. Leaving my Twilight Skyress by its side, I entered the Bakugan Site and received the shock of my life once I discovered that the forums were being indeed loaded with personal stories of talking Bakugan.

So I had not been the only one?

Looking over at my digital clock, I gasped once I saw it was already 7:00pm. I was already going late for my classes. Turning off the computer, I picked up my already packed bag and rushed down the stairs, sitting on the wooden step at the front door in order to get my boots on.

"Here's something for you to eat, Natsumi. Be careful, and don't come back too late," My Aunt Deanne said tenderly to me, handing me a neatly made sandwich.

"Thanks auntie! I'll be leaving now!" I said in a rush, yanking the door open and preparing to step outside.

"It's such a shame that your friend Shun no longer walks you back home…that way you would be safer," my aunt mused, smiling sadly at my back. I froze on my spot, feeling a heavy weight in my heart.

"I don't need him in order to be safe," I said cuttingly before sprinting out the door, not even turning my head in my aunt's direction.

**~*~Dan's POV~*~**

After a few seconds of staring at the blank screen of my computer, it finally showed the chat room I always logged in at. My best friends appeared in separate windows which had the Brawler's attribute's symbol on the upper left corner: Runo Misaki, the Haos Brawler; Marucho Marukura, the Aquos Brawler; Julie Makimoto, the Subterra Brawler; and Alice Gehabich.

"Dan you're there!" Marucho exclaimed happily once he spotted me, sending me a brilliant smile.

He was the youngest Brawler, being only ten years old, and had short blond hair and big blue eyes under his round red glasses. He mostly wore blue and white clothes, showing his love for the Aquos attribute.

"Hey guys, you are not gonna believe this but I was brawling with this dude named Shuji when I thought I heard my Bakugan talk!" I told them excitedly, not being able to hold it in any longer.

"No way! You too?" Runo asked me surprised, leaving me utterly confused.

She was twelve years old, just like me, and had long blue hair held up in pigtails and big green eyes. She wore a yellow top and a white skirt, the main colors of the Haos attribute.

"What'd you mean Runo? Do you think someone else heard it too?" I asked her, a bit disappointed from not being the one who brought awesome news.

"You should log on to the Bakugan Site! It's what everyone's talking about Dan!" Julie told me, raising her finger to add emphasis to her words.

She was my age too, her long straight hair was of an uncommon silver color and her eyes were of a dark shade of blue, combining nicely with her tanned skin. Even though her attribute's colors were orange and brown, she liked to use a pink outfit with white accessories.

I opened a new window in my screen and went to check the site as my friends insisted. Just as Julie had told me, the forums of the internet page were soaring with new information about the same topic I was currently talking about with my friends.

"_It__DID talk! Maybe the Bakugan world has more to it than we thought!_" I thought in amazement, the shock I was currently experiencing making me to stare dumbly at the screen.

"So, how was your brawl?" Marucho asked me, impatient about hearing new information about Bakugan.

"Well, Shuji surprised me at the beginning. He changed from the Subterra attribute to Darkus in less than two days! But then I let him have it with my secret weapon: "Brand Fire!" You should have seen me! I was like totally wicked! But then again, what would you expect from the greatest Bakugan Brawler!" I boasted, standing up and stepping on my wheel chair, too caught up in my own moment to see my friends' faces.

"Whatever! I just checked the World's Ranking Players and you're sitting in 121," Runo said boringly, not at all caring about bursting my bubble.

"That's impossible Runo! I gotta check this out for myself," I mumbled, leaning forward and entering the Rankings Site in my computer. "Screwing up…Ha! 117!" I said victoriously, having indeed advanced to a new number.

"Oh please, give me a break! You should take a breath until you break in into the Top 10," she made fun of me, crossing her arms and sticking her nose up in dignity.

"Yeah, right! Like you're one to talk! You're not even ranked!" I retorted, sticking out my tongue at her.

"Oh like that's real mature!" She fumed from the other side, glaring daggers at me through the screen.

"Danny, that is so dreamy!" Julie suddenly gasped, joining her hands and blushing heavily. "117? That's four whole spots in one day!" She cheered, throwing her hands up in the air. "That's definitely worthy of a 'Sweet Kiss' from Julie!" She concluded, leaning in and kissing her screen, sending me an internet kiss. I yelped in surprise and fell backwards, landing head first on the floor.

"Aw man, that hurt!" I whined, quickly springing back up to my feet and forgetting about the pain. "Quit slobbering up the screen! I'm a Battle Brawler, not your boyfriend!" I yelled at her, trying my best to hide my blushing cheeks.

"Wow…this is so kindergarten!" Runo sentenced, crossing her arms and looking away. Marucho looked from Runo to Julie repeatedly, probably trying to understand their different personalities, while Alice remained unaffected.

"Dan, may I suggest you set your sights on Shun? He's ranked number one and in a few years you could surpass him!" Marucho suddenly suggested, taking me completely by surprise.

"In a few years? There has to be some way you can challenge him or something. Isn't there?" Alice asked calmly, her brown eyes softening in concern.

She was the oldest Brawler of our group, being 14 years old. She had wavy orange hair that reached her waist, which combined with her brown eyes. Not having an attribute of her own, she wore a green and light yellow dress.

"Hey, that's not fair! Remember that there's a girl ranked number two too! That's being sexist! Why can't Dan set his sights on her instead!" Runo was quick to defend her girl comrade while glaring daggers to the younger boy, managing to get Marucho nervous seeing as how he got tongue-tied and had a big sweat drop sliding down the side of his head, while Alice barely heard her.

"Huh? The number two? Isn't she Natsumi Hirakata? It's been so long since we last talked with her," Julie chirped, fumbling with her brown Baku-Pod as she searched through the Ranking List.

Casting my brown eyes downwards, I sighed and reclined back on my chair, letting my head fall backwards so that my friends could not see my saddened eyes.

"I bet I can take those jerks. I don't need to brag, you know? But no one's even come close to challenging me. Better look out Shun, because I'm gonna take you down," I ranted on, glaring upwards at the roof.

I knew there would be no profit for me if I defeated Natsumi, even if I ever saw her again. I had decided to go for the biggest fish, and I'm going to be ranked number one right after that.

**~*~Shun's POV~*~**

"_Ha! Defending my ranking has been a joke when battling these amateurs!_" I thought bitterly as I watched the night sky in my garden, feeling extremely bored and tired after another day of hard work with my grandfather.

"What I need is a serious challenger. One that understands the power that lies in the Vestroia Dimension," I mumbled, looking up at the moon as I rested my back on the side of my grandfather's dojo.

As if on cue, the huge wooden doors at the front of the house creaked open, making me send them a glare. A pale, slender girl soon entered and closed the door behind her, her long dark blue hair shining intensely under the moonlight. I contracted my hands into fists as I saw her walking towards the front door of the dojo, keeping on my hard glare as I silently watched her.

She was wearing a simple sleeveless dress, which had its right side black and its left side white. It reached about her mid thigh, and a big brown belt was secured to her thin waist. Black and white stripped stockings reached a bit past her knees, big gray boots covering her feet. Her slender hands were covered by white gloves, and even from where I was sitting I could see three Darkus Bakugan hanging from her silver Bakuclip.

Finally feeling my staring, she stopped walking and turned her head to look at me, her dark brown orbs narrowing into a cautious glare the moment she spotted me. We stayed glaring at each other for a few seconds before she finally started walking away, apparently not caring about our small interaction at all.

Once the sound of the front door sliding closed reached my ears, I released a breath I didn't know I was holding. I leaned my head backwards on the pole I was currently leaning against, closing my eyes with a sight and not minding the black bangs that had fallen over them.

She certainly entered in the 'serious challenger' category, being able to keep her place in the number two ranking. If only nothing would had ever happened…


	2. Chapter 2: What About Vestroia?

**_A/N: _**And finally, here's chapter 2! I'm so sorry I took so long to update this story, but my whole life has been full of chaos right now =A= This chapter is a bit short due to I had to make some explanations, but I promise the next chapter will be longer and full of surprises! 8D There's also something I wanted to ask you: _would you like this story to have a small recap at the beginning of the episodes?_ And lastly, I wanted to thank everyone who added this story to their Favorites List or to their Story Alert List! You make me happy~

**_Disclaimer: _**Tear-chan doesn't own anything about Bakugan, she only owns the random OCs that will be appearing and the small plot twists she makes.

* * *

**[o]Chapter 2: What About Vestroia![o]**

**~*~Natsumi's POV~*~**

My brown eyes stayed glued to the recently polished tatami floor as I moved my feet and hands gracefully, following the calmed rhythm of the shamisen an old CD player was emitting from a corner of the room. The cold night air was coming into the room from a slightly opened shoji door that lead to the garden, hitting me straight on the face and making my nose cold. At the moment, my mind was in everything but in what I was currently doing, hence all the mistakes in my gestures that were changing the whole symbolism of the story I was supposed to be telling through the dance.

I liked the stories being told in the geisha dances, mostly because they talked about things that happened in the past that were still known in our era. Some of them were cheerful, some of them were sad; some talked about the loss of a lover, and some about the finding of a new friend; some talked about the love of a family, and some talked about the world and nature. They were all fitted to each and every one of your feelings, and you could tell the world what you were truly feeling with only a few graceful movements.

"…"

The sudden silence that engulfed the room brought me back to reality, and it took me a few seconds to realize that the CD had ended. I walked over to the player and shut it off, wondering what my body had been doing while my thoughts were away. A yawn escaped my lips as I combed my fingers through my long dark blue hair, picking up my purple Baku-Pod in order to see the time. It was almost 10:00 o'clock at night, another day's practice finally coming to an end.

Having no other belongings with me in the room, I turned off the lights and walked out, not at all surprised to see the inside of the huge dojo swallowed in utter darkness. Already knowing the hallways by heart, I headed blindly over to the front door to put on my boots before walking out into the cold night. I took a quick glance at the huge garden in search of a certain Ventus brawler, feeling lucky once I couldn't find any tracks of him.

I hurried through the shadows until I reached the huge wooden gates separating me from the normal street that was going to take me home. Closing the doors as quietly as I could, I soon broke into a sprint down the sidewalk towards my home, being accompanied by the crescent moon in the sky. Even if it was this late, there were still some couples and business men walking down the streets and resting in the parks, making the road home look less deserted.

Finally reaching my home, I smiled warmly at the sight of the cozy interior and welcoming lights, the car parked by our entrance telling me that my uncle had finally arrived. This was definitely the complete opposite of the dojo I had just run out of.

I opened the small white picket fence and slipped through the main door, being greeted with the aroma of noodles and coffee. "I'm home!" I called over to my family, taking off my shoes before stepping on the hallway.

"Welcome back!" My aunt Deanne smiled at me from over the kitchen, looking up from pouring some hot coffee in my uncle's cup.

"Hey Natsumi," my uncle Tim greeted me with a bright smile. "How were your classes today?"

"The same they've been," I shrugged sadly, pulling out a chair and flopping down on it tiredly. I never noticed how tense the atmosphere in the dojo really was until I reached my peaceful home, even though I was alone in that vast space the whole time.

"Come on, only time will be able to tell," my uncle smiled encouragingly at me as my aunt placed my food in front of me.

"I guess," I mumbled sadly, taking my chopsticks and starting to eat as an excuse for keeping quiet.

Ever since I was left without a teacher, without an Onee-san as they were called in the geisha world, I could only practice what she had already taught me, hoping with all my heart that she would come back and help me end that step of my life. Maybe if she were here again I wouldn't feel as lonely as I've been currently feeling. I wonder how she's doing…Recently, I've been so afraid of having disappointed her with the sharp turn my life had taken that I haven't have the courage to go visit her in the hospital.

"So, did you see your friend Shun today?" My aunt tried to make conversation after she saw my uncle and me eating soundlessly, once again hitting a sore spot unknowingly.

"No," I answered cuttingly, saying the truth nonetheless. It had been almost half a week since I saw him that night, right after I thought I heard my Twilight Skyress talk.

"It's so sad you're not talking to him as much," my aunt continued innocently, staring at me as I kept on eating. "You should invite him to have dinner one day."

"Please, I don't wanna talk about it," I whispered, bending my head so that my bangs could cover my eyes.

"Deanne, give the girl a rest," my uncle said calmly, grabbing her hand tenderly.

"I'm going to bed," I told them, standing up and leaving my dishes on the sink. "Thanks for the food."

"Sweet dreams," my aunt smiled sweetly at me.

"Goodnight," my uncle nodded kindly, watching me as I climbed up the stairs to my room.

"What a night," I sighed as I closed the door to my room, closing my eyes tiredly. "I won't be able to go on like this much longer," I whined as I unclipped my Baku-Clip and laid it down on my desk.

I was confident my life was not normal, not even compared to one of another Bakugan brawler. I had to get up early to go to school and spend the endless hours of pure torture there. Once out, if I was lucky enough to avoid detention, I would go to the park and brawl until my wrist hurt. Of course, I would then have to rush over to my house so that I could run all the way to the dojo for my afternoon classes, if you could still call them that. To finally end my day, I would still have to go back home and finish all my homework, going to bed rather late just to wake up early the next morning once more.

"So you finally decided to show up, huh?" A deep male voice resounded through my room, shocking me to death.

"W-Who's there?" I asked the wind as I stood in a defensive position, scanning my room for any signs of a thief.

"Over here you moron," the voice snapped in anger.

I jumped a bit in surprise, tightening my hands into fists as I scanned my room a second time. It was just then that I caught sight of movement near my bed but I could find nothing abnormal. There were just a few pillows, scattered books, and my Twilight Skyress. Wait, my Twilight Skyress!

"W-Weren't you…" I stuttered, pointing from my Bakugan to my desk, where I was sure I had left him right before going to my afternoon class.

"I _moved_! You humans are even more stupid than you look," the deep voice said again, my Bakugan jumping slightly in place this time.

"Ack!" I stumbled backwards in shock, colliding against my door. "Y-You can talk!"

"You discovered that on your own?" Twilight mocked me, moving his wings in annoyance.

"Natsumi, is everything alright?" My aunt called me in concern from downstairs, reminding me I was not alone in the house.

"Y-Yeah! I just tripped!" I yelled back through my closed door, never taking my eyes off the moving Bakugan.

"Are you ever going to stop gawking?" Twilight told me angrily, and I bet he would have rolled his eyes at me if he could.

"Unbelievable," I muttered, walking over to my windowsill and picking up my Bakugan, holding him up to eye level.

He had opened up from his normal ball form, revealing his feet, tail, wings, head and beak. This way, it seemed as if his black and purple colors stood out more, making him even more beautiful. I moved to touch his head, but he started to squirm in my grasp until finally landing on top of my bed.

"What do you think you're doing, you useless human!" He yelled, making a small tantrum on my mattress.

"Well, what does it look like?" I snapped back angrily, glaring at my Darkus Bakugan. "I'm trying to find the "off" switch!" I lied quickly, regretting it the moment the sentence escaped my mouth.

"I am no toy you idiot!" Twilight hissed at me, finally staying put on my bed with me towering in front of him.

"Then what the hell are you!" I yelled in frustration, crossing my arms across my chest as I sent a fake yet perfect glare down at the…Bakugan?

"I'm a Bakugan from Vestroia," he finally grumbled, lowering his head a bit in order to send me a more intense glare, which I could feel better than see.

"V-Vestroia?" I wondered quietly, dropping my glare in order to stare questioningly at the black and purple Bakugan. What was that anyways?

"Arg! You humans know nothing!" Twilight roared in frustration. "Vestroia is a vast dimension composed of six attributes worlds. You humans would know them better as Fire, Earth, Light, the Dark side, Water and Wind," he added in the end, making it sound as if he thought I was really mentally disabled.

"I know about the attributes!" I snapped back at him, pulling out the wheel chair from my desk and sitting down on it a bit roughly.

"Would you shut up!" Twilight bit back, fanning his wings in annoyance. "In the very center of our universe there's two opposing cores. The Infinity Core, the source of all positive energy, and the Silent Core, the source of all negative energy."

"Infinity and Silent Core?" I mused, tilting my head slightly to the side as I processed the newly acquired information. "I'm guessing that, since those two are opposing forces, they maintain Vestroia balanced, correct? Like the yin and yang." I ventured, staring calmly at my Bakugan as I waited for his approval.

"Don't get so cocky," Twilight growled, and I decided to take that as a nod towards my idea. "As to be expected, there was one rough Bakugan who in its blast for control skimmed to seize the entire power source for himself. His name was Naga, and his mission was to absorb both Cores, but this had never been done before."

"You don't seem so angry about this," I pointed out, staring accusingly at the small sphere standing on my bed.

"It was only a matter of time before someone started using his brain and tried to gain power," Twilight mocked me, and I could clearly imagine him smirking at this. "Only the strongest Bakugan survive in the end."

"But you said it had never been tried before…What happened to him then?" I was starting to find it difficult to keep my uninterested mask on now, mostly because I really did care a lot about anything that had to do with Bakugan. My curiosity was so much at this point I had even unconsciously moved to sit at the very edge of my chair.

"That idiot somehow didn't succeed! He underestimated the power of the Cores and broke the stupid equilibrium of the universe!" My Bakugan seethed, and I couldn't tell if he was angry because Naga had failed or because someone had beaten him to accomplish his goal.

"Then you are here because of him!" I suddenly realized, standing up and staring at him in shock. "T-They are here because of him!" I added, pointing over to my resting Bakugan on my desk. I couldn't believe it! They were really _alive_!

"Are you really that dumb?" Twilight shook his head at me, thinking those statements had been pretty obvious.

"Everything is starting to make sense now," I mumbled, pulling out my cards and staring at them in newfound admiration. "All these cards must have somehow gone out of your world and into our own, just like you guys did! Then that means…that some kind of connection was made between our worlds the moment Naga left everything upside down!"

"No kidding," Twilight scoffed, jumping up to my pillow in order to reach the windowsill once more. "Now listen to me, human-"

"I have a name, you know?" I finally snapped at him, glaring halfheartedly at him. It was strange, Twilight seemed different from that time when he first talked…he was now more aggressive and even his voice was not as smooth and enchanting as it had been.

"Which I don't care to know," he deadpanned. "Now listen, you need to find a way to get me back home. This place is so disgusting I don't know how you humans can stand it."

"So that's all you want?" I growled at him, starting to get tired of all his complaining. "To get back home? You don't care about everything that Naga did!"

"What do you want me to say? The plan was magnificent, it was the Bakugan the one that was stupid enough to ruin it," he scuffed, turning his head away from me.

"How can you be so selfish?" I glared over at him. This wasn't the Twilight Skyress I had, he couldn't be.

"As if you're one to talk," my Bakugan laughed evilly. "You're not the most considerate person either!"

"I never said I was!" I quickly defended myself. "Besides, what would happen if we don't stop Naga? Your world, and probably even mine, would be reduced to rubble! Is that the kind of world you would like to return to?"

"It would still be better than staying here with you," Twilight spat out, jumping over to my desk and walking over to the rest of my Bakugan. "But, if you want to find a way, if there is one, to stop the current most powerful Bakugan, go ahead and try so yourself. Just try not to fry your brain while doing so." He smirked evilly, closing back into his ball form in order to sleep, ending our conversation.

I was left standing in the middle of my room, alone, staring with a pained expression at the black and purple sphere. It was not fair. First my parents, then my best friends, and now my own Bakugan! Just what was wrong with me?

"Stupid toy," I sniffled quietly, furiously rubbing my tears away before picking up my school bag and dumping my books on my bed.

Doing math problems while my head was stuffed with Bakugan, Vestroia, and Naga proved to be useless, as I discovered after just staring at the same sentence for ten minutes. Huffing angrily, I threw my books back into my black school bag and rested it beside my bed. It was no use trying to do homework now, that fight I had with Twilight really shook me up…I definitely preferred a few minutes of detention. I tucked myself in bed and turned to my clock, 12:30AM.

Hopefully, the moment I wake up, I'll see that this was all a terrible nightmare…

** [o]**

"WHAT!"

"Damn, human! You don't have to be so loud!" Twilight yelled up at me, flapping his wings in indignation.

I paid him no attention though, currently being engrossed in my computer screen. The ranking list was opened in the Top 10 brawlers, the source of my current shock. It was usual for the names in that list to change, maybe not as quickly as those in the rest of the list, but they surely did. However, this time, almost all of the names from the third place up to the tenth had changed in only a week. I had never seen those kids before, and most of them were a few years older than me. They appeared to have suddenly popped out in there! They gained all those points so fast I didn't even see them in the Top 20!

There was one brawler in particular that caught my attention, a boy. His appearance was quite strange, having spiky blond hair and wearing some kind of white coat. His eyes, however, were being hid by a big visor made out of glass. It reminded me to the fangs of a snake, each point of the glasses reaching down to his chin, leaving only his nose and mouth uncovered. What had shocked me though was that he was now ranked number four, and I had no doubt that his score would keep on increasing.

Clicking on his image, I opened the window that usually contained the brawler's data. Another shocker, all the requirements were empty. All except one: his name.

"Who are you, Masquerade?" I mumbled as I tightened the grip on my mouse.

There was something totally wrong with that boy. I couldn't quite guess what it was that made me distrust him, but I had this hunch that he would do nothing but cause trouble. Who knows? Maybe I was just feeling threatened of losing second place in the list.

Sighing, I closed his stats and scrolled up a bit in the list, staring intently at the top score: 11427. Right below was mine, 09744, alongside my photo. I bit my lower lip as I stared at the picture just above mine, remembering not to show any emotion since I was not alone in the room. He hadn't changed at all in almost half a year…everything was still there, his long shiny black hair, his light brown eyes…

_Beep beep_

The small alarm I had set up so that I could now when the Top 10 list changed broke me out of my thoughts. Confused by this sudden change, I scrolled down once more only to receive the third shock that morning: Masquerade was now in third place.

"There's no way I'll let you keep on moving forwards," I growled, quickly standing up and turning off my computer.

"You finally realized you're late for school?" Twilight asked me in amusement, having said nothing even though he knew I had long missed my first period. Both my aunt and uncle worked since early in the morning, so they trusted me to avoid being late to school.

"Forget school, we have something more important to do," I shot back at him, opening one of the drawers of my desk and choosing three Darkus Bakugan.

"So now you want to act like a bad girl?" He snorted at me.

"I wouldn't do that to my aunt and uncle," I glared down at him. "Today is the last day of school, so there's no difference whether I go or not." I explained, clipping my Baku-Clip to my brown belt.

"I really wonder how you managed to get approving grades this whole year," my Bakugan tried pissing me off.

"Whatever," I cut him off. "Change of plans. We gotta brawl," I sentenced, grabbing him quickly before he could even think of escaping.

I rushed down the stairs and ran across the empty house while completely ignoring my Twilight Skyress' angry cries and curses. I pulled my boots on quickly before sprinting out the door, locking it hurriedly. There's no way I was going to fall without a fight, I would at least slow down Masquerade's progress. I knew that, eventually, he was going to surpass me, since I still had no intentions of surpassing Shun's score, but, if that was the case, then I was not going to fall alone.

Shun was going to meet his downfall…And it was not going to be by my own hands.


End file.
